Can you explain the concept of Universal Links and how they differ from regular URLs?

Universal Links are a mechanism in iOS that allows links to open directly in an app if it is installed, instead of opening in a browser.

Differences from regular URLs:

• Regular URLs always open in Safari or another browser.
• Universal Links check if the app associated with the link's domain is installed. If yes — the link opens in the app, otherwise — in the browser.

Universal Links work through associating a domain with an app using the apple-app-site-association file hosted on a server. This allows iOS to redirect users securely.

Example: a link https://example.com/article/123 will open the article directly in the app if Universal Links are configured, otherwise in the browser.